Collect the troops, as soon as the gong sounded, followed by the Liukou retreated like a tide, looking at the retreating Liukou, Liu Zeqing wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, fortunately withstood it, this time withstood it, the next time Li Zicheng wants to break through Luoyang City, at least ten times the number of people is needed, or even more, this battle is half of his Liu Zeqing's victory.

However, although he Liu Zeqing won half of the domain, but the victory was not very easy, Li Zicheng's rogue died about eight or nine thousand people in this battle, and his defenders also died nearly nine hundred people, the battle loss ratio of ten to one, what is more serious is that the rolling stones and sasswood, the arrows are more damaged, and even the consumption of cannonballs defending the city is no longer a few, which is enough to make Liu Zeqing feel distressed.

Liukou has always exchanged human lives for gunpowder and arrows for strategic weapons and equipment such as the Ming official army, so although this victory was won, Liu Zeqing did not feel relaxed.

"Count the battle damage and count the remaining equipment to defend the city."

"No!"

Liu Zeqing gave the order, and the adjutant general should be, followed by immediately went to take stock of weapons and equipment and check the state of the arsenal.

Soon the information was gathered into Liu Zeqing's hands.

"Lord Commander, this time the cost of defending the city is heavy, most of the equipment we have hoarded to defend the city is consumed, of which the most serious consumption is the arrows, which have consumed more than half of the inventory, and the consumption of gunpowder is also very serious, one-third of the inventory is used, and the other is the rolling wood and stone, which is basically consumed."

Liu Zeqing's eyes became solemn when he heard this, he didn't expect the consumption of this battle to be so heavy, the most important of which is the loss of arrows, you must know that an arrow is very troublesome to make, and it costs a lot, after using it, it is impossible to replenish it in a short time.

Liu Zeqing thought, his eyes looked at the battlefield, there were a lot of arrows in this battlefield, but he didn't dare to send troops to recover, because if he opened the city gate, the thieves would definitely find a way to rush in from the city gate for the first time, this is a lesson from the past, the battle of Dengfeng City, the defenders had already repelled the rogues, but the defenders were greedy for the arrows on the battlefield, so they opened the city gate and sent people to recover the bows and arrows. As a result, Liu Zongmin took the opportunity to enter Dengfeng City, and that battle directly lost Dengfeng City.

This is all a lesson from the past.

Liu Zeqing knew that these arrows outside the city must not be counted on, but the lack of arrows was not a trivial matter, so he said to the deputy general: "Find King Fu to find a way to do the arrows, if not, cut down all the trees in Luoyang City that can be used for arrows, and mobilize the people to work overtime to make more arrows for us." ”

"As for gunpowder, this one is a headache, how much can the gunpowder factory in Luoyang City produce in a day?"

Liu Zeqing looked at the deputy general and asked, and the deputy general said with a dark face when he heard this: "I'm afraid I won't be able to produce much." ”

"Well, what do you mean?"

The adjutant general said with a bitter face: "Lord Commander, you don't know, the gunpowder factory in Luoyang has been shut down two years ago, and now you let him resume production, I'm afraid it won't have any effect in a short time." ”

"What? Luoyang Gunpowder Factory stopped production? How is it possible, Luoyang Gunpowder Factory is the first gunpowder factory in the Central Plains, Henan, Shandong, Hubei, Shanxi gunpowder used to be supplied by this gunpowder factory, a gunpowder factory in charge of four provinces said that it would stop production? ”

Liu Zeqing asked suspiciously, then looked at the deputy general and said, "Then where did all the gunpowder we bought over the years come from?" ”

When the deputy general heard this, he said: "Don't hide it from the county respect, it is basically made in Lantian." ”

"Lantian made it, why don't I know? Adjutant General: I remember the purchase of gunpowder, but you are in charge! ”

When the adjutant general heard this, he immediately knelt on the ground and said, "My lord, this matter is indeed the villain's responsibility, but I have also told the adults about this matter." ”

"Told me?"

Liu Zeqing looked confused.

The adjutant general said: "Lord Commander, this Lantian gunpowder appeared about two years ago, at that time, the price was extremely low, even lower than the production cost of Luoyang Gunpowder Factory, and the quality is also quite good, at that time Lantian people came to me to see the goods, I think it is very good, but you also know that gunpowder involves the interests of all parties, Luoyang Gunpowder Factory is also related to the princes of the imperial court, the interests of this piece of fat, we dare not move." ”

"However, Lantian people know how to buy and sell, and they know that this kind of trading will not move, so they found the Luoyang Gunpowder Factory and promised them to sell it to the Luoyang Gunpowder Factory at the cost price of the raw materials, so that the gunpowder factory does not have to make it itself, and can directly cut the craftsmen, and then sell it at the original price, so that the profit of the gunpowder factory will be higher."

"So Luoyang Gunpowder Factory cooperated with Lantian, and Lantian directly provided finished gunpowder to the gunpowder factory, Luoyang Gunpowder Factory has been out of production since then, and all the old craftsmen who produced gunpowder have been eliminated, it is said that the old craftsmen could not afford to eat at that time, and their lives were miserable, but later it was said that this group of old craftsmen were all taken away by Lantian, but this is none of our business."

"We are still buying gunpowder in the Luoyang Gunpowder Factory, and the Luoyang Gunpowder Factory has increased our profits by two percent in order to win us over, I told the chief soldier about this, the small ones don't dare to eat alone, I don't believe you look at the examples of the past two years, the gunpowder item, the small ones give you an extra one and a half percent every year, you can go back and check the accounts."

The adjutant general knelt on the ground and said, Liu Zeqing narrowed his eyes when he heard this, and said: "Are you saying that two years ago, the Luoyang Gunpowder Factory was demolished by Lantian little by little, from a factory that can make gunpowder, to a shop that distributes gunpowder?" ”

"Yes, that's right."

The adjutant general nodded, and Liu Zeqing continued: "And now that Lantian has cut off the goods from the Luoyang Gunpowder Factory, the Luoyang Gunpowder Factory has no ability to manufacture gunpowder?" ”

The adjutant nodded and shook his head, saying, "It's not 100% impossible, it's just that it can be slower." ”

"How much slower?"

Liu Zeqing looked at the deputy general and asked, the deputy general stretched out his finger when he heard this: "Now if you make it with all your might, you can produce dozens of catties a day." ”

"Get out!"

Liu Zeqing was angry, kicked the deputy general's chest, kicked the deputy general to the ground, and the deputy general immediately ran into the distance when he heard this: "No, get out, get out!" ”

The deputy general ran away with a roll, and Liu Zeqing's face was blue: "Lantian, Li Chaosheng, so vicious, so vicious!" ”

Liu Zeqing gritted his teeth but was helpless, what people Lantian was playing was Yangmou, everything was on the bright side, I just took advantage of the greed of your group of officials, what's wrong, I sell gunpowder at a price lower than the raw materials, aren't you impressed?

Heartbeat, heartbeat is easy to do, you will take the initiative to cut the factory, then the core technology will be mastered in Lantian, and start to give you some sweetness to eat, but in the end you will find that you died miserably.

Just like now, there is a gunpowder processing factory in Luoyang City, but what? Liu Zeqing could only watch, producing dozens of catties of gunpowder a day, which was not enough to set off fireworks in a major battle that was about to take place for hundreds of thousands of people.

This is Lantian's viciousness, and it will make you unrecoverable before you know it.

Liu Zeqingqi's teeth are itchy, but he is helpless, after all, this kind of trade war is too advanced in this era, Lantian's gunpowder technology is very good, in this has entered the era of firearms, the quality of gunpowder is the basis of the military, so Lantian has made great efforts in gunpowder research and development.

There are three kinds of gunpowder in Lantian now, the first one, the granular yellow gunpowder specially made by the Lantian army, which is powerful and expensive, and is strictly forbidden to be sold, but it is gunpowder used by the army itself.

The second is black powder, the most traditional black powder in the Ming Dynasty, and the fineness is a little better than that of the Ming Dynasty, due to mass production, the cost is relatively low, and it can be sold and provided to major forces.

The last one is the most general quality gunpowder, which is generally used in industrial blasting or fireworks.

And because Lantian's gunpowder is produced in batches, the cost is compressed very low, and it can even reach one-third of the cost of gunpowder production in Daming, while the price of Daming gunpowder is very high, and the raw materials are also very high, and the proportion of raw materials can reach 80% of the finished gunpowder.

And the ultimate goal of doing so can also be achieved, so what is the ultimate goal? There is no doubt that the Ming Dynasty's own gunpowder factory will be crushed and the war materials will be monopolized.

Fortunately, Li Chaosheng did it, and now most of the gunpowder factories in the entire Central Plains, the southwest, and even the north have been destroyed by Lantian, and Lantian can solve about one-tenth of the financial gap by selling gunpowder every year.

And this is still a piggybacking thing, Lantian does not expect to make money from this, what Lantian really wants to achieve is a strategic purpose, so that Daming will lose the ability to manufacture gunpowder on a large scale.

Just like today's Luoyang, even if you have a gunpowder factory, you still can't produce gunpowder, don't think that Li Chaosheng has a bad mind, there is no way, in a chaotic world, you don't know how you will die if you don't do some means.

And like the military factory and the gunpowder factory, these are all variables for Li Chaosheng to unify the world, so if he can control it, he will try to control it.

Liu Zeqing sat on the city wall and sighed, Lantian Li Chaosheng is really a ruthless person, he started the layout two years ago, and as soon as he closed the net today, he brought such a big loss to himself, and the famous Luoyang Gunpowder Factory was directly abolished by him, okay, okay.

Liu Zeqing thought about looking up and happened to see the sneaky deputy general hiding in the distance, the deputy general was afraid that Liu Zeqing would not lose his breath, and always paid attention to the situation here, otherwise, when Liu Zeqing eased up, the first thing he saw was himself.

Liu Zeqing looked at the deputy general, the anger in his heart had not yet dissipated, and waved his hand at the deputy general: "You come here." ”

Seeing this, the adjutant immediately ran over.

"Lord Commander, you're deflated."

"Not yet."

Liu Zeqing replied coldly, and when he heard this, the deputy general said: "Understand, understand, why don't I avoid it first, and when you are discouraged, I will serve you again?" ”

Hearing this, Liu Zeqing looked at the deputy general coldly and said, "Then it's better for me to change to a deputy general." ”

The deputy general immediately shut up, and when the leader lost his temper, you hid far away, for fear of affecting yourself, and when the leader wants to promote and employ people, you should not move forward, because the leader is not familiar with you.

Those who have been with the leader know that the leader has a temper on weekdays and is willing to discipline you, that is, the leader does not treat you as an outsider, and if there is an opportunity, he will be willing to promote you.

But if the leader is polite to you on weekdays, there are two situations, one is that you are harder in the background, and the leader also has to look at your face to act, and the other is that the leader completely treats you as an outsider and does not communicate with you, so that there will definitely be no you for promotion in the future, of course, there are benefits, that is, he will not bother you usually.

There are pros and cons, it depends on how you choose.

The deputy general obviously wanted to continue to progress, so he didn't dare to offend the leader, so he had to come over with a smile to accept Liu Zeqing's criticism, Liu Zeqing glanced at the deputy general, and didn't want to continue to worry about the deputy general, so he said: "I said half of what I said just now, it's too late to replenish the arrows and gunpowder now, but even if it's a drop in the bucket, we can't give up, the trees that can make arrow shafts in the city should be cut and cut, and the Luoyang Gunpowder Factory can make a pound of gunpowder, and he still has to make it, and he can't stop producing it completely because of slow production." ”

"Yes, my lord, I understand."

"Well, that's it for gunpowder and arrows, so in addition to these two, the rolling wood and stone guarding the city, as well as the gold juice are very useful, for these two things, we still have a way to supplement, have you seen the houses under the roots of Luoyang City? The next time the thief came, there was no rolling stone and wood, so he demolished this private house, so that there are no stones and wood? ”

Liu Zeqing pointed to the house under Luoyang City, isn't this the rolling stone of the county seat?

The adjutant general was a little embarrassed when he heard this: "Lord Commander, I'm afraid that this demolition of people's houses will annoy the people and cause resentment?" ”

"Grievances? Hahaha...... If Luoyang City can't be saved, our heads will have to move, our lives will be gone, and we are afraid of the people's grievances. You can do this matter, but anyone who dares to resist will be dealt with as a mob, and you can be killed on the spot. ”

"Yes, I understand."

The deputy general immediately responded, Liu Zeqing looked at the battlefield below and said: "Do you think I am ruthless, there is no way, this battle is lost, our lives are not guaranteed, if you can't be ruthless, then wait for death." ”

Hearing this, the deputy general was speechless, and Liu Zeqing said for a long time: "As for the gold juice, the people in the city will be mobilized tomorrow, and each person and each household must donate two barrels of gold juice to us, the hundreds of thousands of people in Luoyang City, not to mention anything else, one person can pull a bubble a day, and it is enough for the thieves to drink a pot." ”

"Understood, but my lord, it's easy to do two buckets of gold juice per household, but where do we put them when they send them?"

The deputy general looked at Liu Zeqing and asked, Liu Zeqing was stunned when he heard this, and then pointed to the root of Luoyang City and said: "Dig two big dung pits for me under the root of this city, and pour all the gold juice into it, so that we can defend the city." ”

"Huh?"

"Questions?"

Liu Zeqing looked at the deputy general, and the deputy general shook his head again and again: "No, no problem." ”

(End of chapter)